lord vernon’s dante; sir g. cornewall lewis on milton and dante; chi era francesco da bologna? john harris.
during 1848, europe was greatly disturbed by internal commotions, calculated to unsettle thinking men, and more especially those who took an active interest in politics. it is a matter for astonishment, therefore, that panizzi, whose share in such agitation was by no means inconsiderable, should have found time and inclination to devote himself to literary productions. nevertheless, indulging in the aspirations for freedom which were then moving nations he yet was able to dedicate much of his time to literature.
dante
indeed, it is almost incredible how he could, with so much on his brain, have given himself up to the editing of dante. of the great italian poet so much might be written that it would be but irrelevant to this biography to leave the principal mover in it, even temporarily, to dilate on so exalted a subject. we must, therefore, merely observe that panizzi was deeply impressed with the 295importance of dante’s poetry, which excelled all that had preceded it, and was written in the lingua vulgare, only that it might be understood by the people, who delighted in its inexhaustible treasures. five centuries have elapsed since the great florentine wrote his divina commedia, which has now become the property and admiration of the whole civilized world.
the editions of it are very numerous, but it is with the first four we have now to deal.
the earliest is the editio princeps, of foligno, by numeister, bearing date 1472. in the same year were also printed one edition at jesi, by federico veronese, and another at mantua, by germanus, giorgio e paolo. that at naples was edited by giovanni francesco del tuppo, printed by reussinger, and appeared three years later.
an idea of the value and importance of the volume edited by panizzi, at the expense of lord vernon (published by messrs. t. and w. boone, and printed by charles whittingham), may be formed by the mere fact that these first four editions are here united in one, which, to the student, must prove an invaluable boon, as he is thus enabled to perceive at a glance the variations in the text.
these editions can only be found altogether at the british museum, though separate copies exist in other libraries also.
296in the year 1835, mr. grenville gave the sum of ￡60 for the copy printed at naples, and in 1842 he purchased for ￡42. 16s. 0d. the mantua edition, which two copies are now in the british museum, forming part of his munificent bequest to the nation.
from panizzi’s preface we learn that he gave ￡90 to mr. asher, of berlin, for the jesi dante, in which six pages were missing. fac-similes were made by john harris, from a copy in the possession of earl spencer. later on, mr. winter jones, at that time keeper of the printed books, purchased another incomplete copy, from which he was enabled to replace four more pages, thus rendering it all but complete.
two copies of the foligno edition are to be found in the same library—the most favoured possessor in the world of early editions of dante.
lord vernon could have no better opportunity of reprinting them in london. in securing the assistance of panizzi, whose knowledge and precision were of the utmost importance, he was most fortunate. moreover, the printing of the book in question is highly creditable to british typography. it is a folio of 800 pages, with a preface by the editor, and contains fac-similes of the originals. lord vernon, being a corresponding member, dedicated it to the accademia della crusca.
the preliminaries for this work, which was published in 1858, were entered into just ten years before; and a memorandum from lord vernon, dated october 23, 1848, is extant, in which he makes a proposal to panizzi that the sum of ￡50 should be paid to him 297every six months, until the completion of the work—the said payment to terminate in four years—the whole sum amounting in the aggregate to ￡400.
in this transaction mr. pickering was consulted.
panizzi lost no time, and was evidently eager to begin a task so congenial to his taste; for barely a week afterwards (to quote his own words) he wrote to lord vernon, “i have set to work without a moment’s delay, putting aside every other unofficial occupation.”
the question relating to the latter part of the following letter of lord vernon, seems to have arisen from a misunderstanding as to the use of the word his for this; and will be best explained by giving his lordship’s letter, in addition to panizzi’s very characteristic reply:—
“florence, 21st nov., 1848.
“my dear sir,
i am very happy to find that mr. pickering’s proposal has met with your approval, as it did with mine. as for myself, i can only congratulate myself at having had the good fortune to secure your valuable assistance at any price within my means.
lord vernon
respecting the correction of the press, you are right in supposing that it was intended to apply not only to the part which more immediately concerns yourself, but to the whole work. if, however, you think that the revision of my part of the work will be a great fatigue, and take up too much of your time, i am willing to omit this from the conditions above 298stated. i must, however, in this case, beg of you to name your own terms, in case it suited you to undertake it, or else to find some one else in whose capacity and judgment you have confidence, and who will have some discretion in his demands upon my purse.
yours, &c., &c.,
vernon.”
“b. m., nov. 30th, 1848.
“my dear lord,
in thanking you for your kind expressions towards me, i beg to add that i cannot allow you to incur any expense whatever for correcting your own edition of the inferno. i consider it part of my duty, according to the terms of the memorandum of the 23rd of october, as explained in my lettter to your lordship on the 31st of the same month, to correct the press of that cantica; i am at your lordship’s orders, and ready to perform that duty to the best of my abilities.
i suppose i shall hear from mr. pickering when i am wanted in that respect. with reference to the text of the first four editions, twelve cantos of the first (foligno) are prepared for collation with those of mantua, jesi, and naples.
by midsummer i hope the greater part, if not the whole of the first part of the poem, will be thus collated and ready for press. the printing will proceed slowly, as i am to re-collate the whole in type.
yours, &c., &c.,
a. panizzi.”
as early as september, 1849, there was already sufficient material for going to press; but though panizzi continually wrote to his lordship urging the necessity of beginning to print, a year elapsed without any communication on the subject, and without any progress with the work. from a letter in the month of june, 1851, lord vernon appears to have 299been somewhat discouraged; the booksellers not having taken up the matter in so spirited a manner as he anticipated, and panizzi complaining, not without reason, that the work seems to have come almost to a stand still, consoled himself by addressing the following letter to mr. e. white, his lordship’s solicitor:—
“british museum, may 5th, 1852.
“dear sir,
it is not for me to suggest to his lordship any course of proceeding; as, however, i am not totally indifferent with respect to the determination he may come to, i hope to be forgiven for saying a very few words on the subject.
when i undertook to carry out lord vernon’s wishes expressed in the memorandum handed to me by mr. pickering, and confirmed by his lordship’s subsequent letters, i was not only moved by the pecuniary remuneration which lord vernon was pleased to propose to me, i looked forward to the time when the work should be published, from which i expected some credit. i cannot, therefore, feel indifferent to his lordship’s determination as to publishing; nor can i receive without some slight observation the sum which lord vernon proposed to me as a remuneration for a certain work, without fulfilling on my part the obligations i have incurred. these i am most anxious to perform, but it is impossible for me to do so if lord vernon does not order a printer to print the manuscript which i have not failed to prepare as agreed, and in a manner which his lordship had fully approved of.
i am not less desirous to perform what i have undertaken, than i am of receiving the remuneration which i was led to expect for it; and it would be very painful to me if his lordship merely performed his part of the agreement without enabling me to perform mine.
yours, &c., &c.,
a. panizzi.”
300much to the editor’s delight, however, work was resumed; and by the summer of 1854 mr. whittingham had already sent in a bill for printing the inferno.
such was the beauty of the work that it deeply impressed lord vernon’s sensitive nature, and in the following year he desired that the purgatorio should be forthwith proceeded with, but as the first portion approached completion, his lordship became anxious as to the title of the book and its disposal, as the following letter clearly testifies:—
“nov. 4, 1856,
h?tel westminster,
rue de la paix, paris.
“dear mr. panizzi,
what shall we call the union of four editions in one? i cannot think of a word. you cannot call it “tesseraglott,” because it is one “glotte,” or language, though not quite in one dialect. if i remember right, there is in ugo foscolo’s edition rather a learned disquisition about the cause of the difference in the texts of the early editions, viz., the difference in the dialect of the early copyists, &c., &c., &c.
i was thinking of dedicating the book to the crusca(of which i am a most unworthy corresponding member), if you see no objection to it. what plan would you recommend me to pursue for the publication of this book, and of my own edition of the “inferno?” had i better sell it to some bookseller for a certain sum, or had i better let the bookseller sell it on my account, receiving so much percent? or had i better sell it by auction, or had i better give it all away?
what bookseller to employ i know not, nor whether to publish it in england, france, or italy.
then as to price (if a price it is to have). what might it be? there will be 2 vols, folio—viz., one of the text with 301my paraphrastic interpretation (i say this because it is not exactly a paraphrase, inasmuch as no single word of the original is omitted). 2nd. a volume also in folio of illustrative matters; and 3rd, 1 vol. folio, the album dantesco with explanatory notes.
i say folio, but perhaps it is royal 4to., i do not know how this may be, but they will all be the same size. i shall be very thankful when it is off my hands.
if i had health i should do the “purgatorio.” the “paradiso” is too philosophical and metaphysical and theological for my poor simple head. it is a pity, however, that the other two cantiche should not be done, as it would add considerably to the value of the book.
there is another way of publication—viz., subscription, but i do not much like this.
yours, &c., &c.,
vernon.”
this letter was followed not long afterwards by another, in which lord vernon entered into details regarding the sale and profits likely to accrue from it. he was, evidently, still undecided as to the title of the book, and urged panizzi to suggest one.
as to the place of publication, his lordship, with a certain amount of reason, desired that it should be in london; he very justly observes that:—“being done at the expense of an englishman, printed in england, on english paper, and from four editions, which are found together only in the british museum, moreover, being the homage of an englishman to italy’s greatest poet, to her literature, and to her most celebrated academies, it would appear with better grace, as coming from london, than any italian city.”
302by march, 1858, the book was completed, when lord vernon expressed himself thus: “i hope to hear in a short time that, like the great leviathan, it has overcome all stops and hindrances, and been fairly launched in the stream of literature.”
some writers—and amongst them the subject of our memoir—have looked upon milton as an occasional imitator of dante. a propos of this theory (which may best be studied in professor masson’s biography of the great puritan poet), we propose to give, at some length, a correspondence on the subject between panizzi and sir g. cornewall lewis. the letters of the former are so full of sound thought and such fair specimens of his literary knowledge that we append them, together with sir g. c. lewis’s reply, for the reader’s edification.
“british museum,
january 22, 1856.
my dear sir george,
sir g. cornwall lewis
i have been looking whether my memory had served me right as to milton having occasionally imitated dante, which i mentioned on sunday, when we were speaking of dante being or not being known in england before the last century. i have found several passages which i think bear me out; for instance:—
‘non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda, e passa.’
‘therefore eternal silence be their doom.’—p. l. 6, 385.
but i don’t quote more, as in his prose works (vol. iv., p. 11, edit. of 1753) he actually quotes as his authority against rome dante’s lines, c. 19, v. 115—
303‘ahi costantin, di quanto, mal fu matre,’ and translates them thus:—
‘ah, constantine! of how much ill was cause
not thy conversion, but those rich demains
that the first wealthy pope receiv’d of thee.’
and then he, moreover, refers to the twentieth canto of the paradiso.
it is curious to see, not long after milton—or, perhaps, at the same time—stillingfleet, in his origines sacr? (book 2nd, ch. 9, sec. 19, and ch. 10, sec. 5) quote dante as an authority on the truth of christianity, but he gives the verses in a latin translation by f. s. (i have not looked to see who f. s. was.)
spenser, too, has imitated dante, i think. tradubio, who is turned into a tree and speaks, of pier delle vigne.
‘uomini fummo, ed or siam fatti sterpi.’
‘but once a man, tradubio, now a tree.’
chaucer has often imitated dante, whom he calls (wife of bath’s tale, v. 6708, in tyrwhitt’s edit.) ‘the wise poet of florence—that highte dante,’ of whom he translated immediately after the lines:—
‘rade volte discende per li rami,’ &c.
‘full selde up riseth by his branches small,’ &c.;
and in the monk’s tale the whole of ugolino’s story is translated, and he ends by referring to
‘the grete poete of itaille—
that highte dante ...’ as its author.
and now i end in haste.
yours, &c., &c.,
a. panizzi.”
“kent house, jan. 25, 1856.
“dear panizzi,
the imitation of dante in milton’s verse—‘therefore eternal silence be their doom’—seems to me doubtful. the quotation of the celebrated passage ‘ahi costantin’ does not prove that milton had read dante—he might have found this anti-papal citation in some controversial work.
304i have no doubt that scattered references to particular passages and particular expressions in a writer so sterling, and once too well-known, can be found at all periods. but is there any evidence that milton’s contemporaries read dante, and understood and admired him, and were influenced by his poetry in their compositions?
yours, &c., &c.,
g. c. lewis.”
“b. m., jan. 26, 1856.
“my dear sir george,
dante says:—
‘fama di loro il mondo esser non lassa,
misericordia e giustizia gli sdegna.
non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda, e passa.’
and milton:—
‘cancelled from heaven and sacred memory,
nameless in dark oblivion let them dwell;
* * * * * *
therefore eternal silence be their doom.’
—p. l., 6. 380-5.
take the whole, and it seems to me that the english is in imitation of the italian. but great poets, when they imitate, they do so making the images their own; they don’t copy, but they abridge, add, and alter so as to appear original, and so does milton. i find that he once translated one line dante, at the beginning of the paradiso, c. 1, v. 12, says:
‘sarà ora materia del mio canto,’
and milton, p. l., 3. 413:—
‘shall be the copious matter of my song.’
and compare also what he says of the sun in that book (v. 586), with the very first lines of the canto of dante.
in his sonnet to henry lawes, milton says:—
‘dante shall give fame leave to set thee higher
than his casella, whom he woo’d to sing,
met in the milder shades of purgatory.’
305now this alludes to purg. c.2, v.106, and ‘the milder shades of purgatory’ when compared to those of hell, seem to show that milton had read both.
add to this that milton knew italian thoroughly, that he had passed some time at florence, where dante was never forgotten, and that galileo, and still more dati, were intimate friends of his. now, galileo and dati were great admirers of dante, and placed him in the highest rank of poets.
i cannot, therefore, doubt that milton was thoroughly conversant with dante’s poetry, and admired him. how far he was influenced by his poetry in his compositions, would require a long critical essay; the more difficult to draw up satisfactorily, the more is the originality of a great poet like milton in appropriating other poet’s ideas.
believe me, &c.,
a. panizzi.”
whatever may have been the ultimate settlement of this friendly discussion, panizzi’s estimate of sir george’s talents and abilities may be accurately gathered from the next letter we quote, which asks him to become a candidate for a vacant trusteeship of the british museum.
“british museum, august 16, 1856.
“my dear sir george,
the dean of westminster is dead: he was one of our trustees. we want as his successor an m.p. who will help us when not in office, who is pretty safe of his seat, and whose pursuits render him fit for the place. now, without any ceremony, you are the man we want, and i mean to do what little i can to bring your name before the electors. there can be no difficulty, as the government necessarily get elected whom they please. i want no answer from you, except if you decidedly object: in which case i want you only to write the word no. i hope, however, you will accept ‘la candidature,’ as the french say. i think cureton ought to be elected dean. he is one of the most eminent oriental 306scholars in the world, as you know—and certainly the most eminent in england.
believe me, &c.,
a. panizzi.”
“p.s.—i know lord clarendon is staying with you. please show him this: i am sure he will see that it is done—i mean for you.”
the hopes thus expressed were realized, as, on the 27th of february of the following year (1857), sir george c. lewis was appointed one of the trustees of our famous institution.
and here may be given an extract from a letter of j. a. carlyle (thomas carlyle’s brother), also on the topic of dante’s poems, which deserves recognition, as a proof of the esteem in which panizzi was universally held, in especial by englishmen.
“20th december, 1848.
“i really wish you could find leisure to write something expressly concerning the times in which dante lived. you could do it better than any other person, and it has now become very necessary.”
francesco raibolini
and now, let us proceed to another publication. in the year 1858 panizzi issued, for his friends, a charming little work, beautifully printed, also by charles whittingham.
written in italian, and dedicated to h.r.h. the duke d’aumale, only 250 copies were printed, under the title of chi era francesco da bologna?—proving, so far as the question could be then proved, that the said francesco 307da bologna was no other than the celebrated painter. francesco raibolini, born about 1450, and commonly called il francia. the name of francia he derived from his master, a goldsmith, die, and niello engraver. according to vasari and a document discovered by calvi, his death took place on the 6th of january, 1517.[n] francesco raibolini was at once, in common with many of his compeers, goldsmith and type-cutter, as well as a painter, and to his skilful hands, aldus, whose name they bear, was indebted for his characters. from panizzi, we learn that, “at the end of the short preface prefixed by aldus to his first edition of virgil (1501), printed in the cursive or secretarial characters manum mentientes, afterwards generally known by the name of aldine, are the following three verses:—
in grammatoglypt?
laudem.
“qui graiis dedit aldus, en latinis
dat nunc grammata scalpta d?daleis
francisci manibus bononiensis,”
(translation). in praise of the type-engraver. aldus now gives to the latins, as he gave to the greeks, letters graven by the d?dal hands of francesco da bologna.
besides cutting types, francesco used them too, for he set up a press at his native town, bologna, in 1516, and printed several works, now rare, as, for instance, “il canzoniere” of petrarch, “l’arcadia di sannazaro” and “gli asolani” of bembo, “il corbaccio” and the “epistol? ad familiares” of cicero.
n. the date as in the document in question is 1517. the old custom of beginning the ecclesiastical and legal year on the 20th of march was never established at bologna.
308about 1503, francesco quarrelled with aldus, and we find, in a letter prefixed to the edition of petrarch, that he bitterly complains of deriving no honour or profits from the types he had himself cut. it is notorious that aldus freely gave out that he was not only the inventor, but also the cutter; and, therefore, the work by panizzi, to say nothing of its beauty, is of great importance, for it does justice to the real inventor, and this discovery is due to the author of the pamphlet, who, besides, enlightens us, in clear language, respecting the distinguished bolognese:—
“from the beginning of printing up to a time not far distant from our own, the engravers of punches for types were goldsmiths, die-sinkers, medallists, niellists,—masters in their art. it will be found in zani that fust and sch?ffer were goldsmiths, and so, it is believed, was guttenberg; while, in the opinion of the said zani, it was giovanni dunne, ‘a most excellent goldsmith, who led the way in the formation of metal types.’ ... every one knows how distinguished francia was as a goldsmith, his first and chief profession, and how frequently he signed his paintings with the words, ‘franciscus francia aurifaber,’ or ‘aurifex,’ as if he gloried in the designation. vasari says, in the life of francia, that his fine medals stood on a par with those of caradosso; but he says never a word of the furnius conjured up by gaurico.”
“i had long suspected that this francesco da bologna, was no other than the bolognese francesco raibolini, generally known as ‘francia.’ some years ago, in running through a work of some note 309in former times, i found that after mentioning various ancient artists, exactly as gaurico does, it went on to speak of the modern ones thus:—‘i find amongst the ancients one great omission of which the moderns take notice, and that is with regard to engravers or artists in silver, a kind of work known as niello. i am acquainted with a man of the highest excellence, and very famous in his art, his name is francesco da bologna, otherwise franza; he forms or engraves on a diminutive orb or plate of silver, so many men and animals, so many mountains, trees, and castles, and in so many various shapes and positions that it is wonderful to behold or describe.’”
“and here i might stop,” continues panizzi, “were it not that the direct testimony of leonardi is corroborated irrefragably by a very remarkable circumstance.... i think i may conclude by answering the question which i have put to myself, thus:—francesco da bologna was francesco raibolini, called francia, the worthy contemporary and compatriot of leonardo, raphael, and michel angelo, great as a painter, great as an engraver, great as a medallist, great as a niellist, without equal as a type-cutter, a shining ornament of illustrious and learned bologna.”
conclusive as panizzi’s argument appeared to be, there were, of course, dissentients, and among them was count giacomo manzoni, who, in a jocular letter to the late librarian of the laurenziana (florence) cav. ferrucci, expressed his doubts. panizzi, in a tone of equal good humour, confuted the count, and issued a second edition in 1873, containing 310his answer to count manzoni’s suggested objections.
the “bijou” work (or as monsieur brunet, the celebrated bibliophile termed it, un véritable bijou typographique), once out of the publisher’s hands, it was circulated amongst panizzi’s friends, and translated by mr. charles cannon. the laudatory letters, replete with thanks, which followed were numerous, but as an example of these, that from the already mentioned mons. brunet must suffice:—
“paris, 30 nov., 1858.
“monsieur,
j’ai bien tardé à vous remercier du charmant opuscule que m. mérimée m’a fait l’honneur de me remettre de votre part. c’est qu’avant de vous écrire je voulais avoir pris connaissance de cette curieuse dissertation, et que malheureusement, occupé sans relache d’un travail in extremis, pour ma nouvelle édition, il me reste bien peu de temps à donner à mes plaisirs. c’en a été un véritable pour moi de vous lire et d’admirer l’exactitude de vos fac-simile. vos conjectures, monsieur, sur francesco de bologna, me paraissent bien fondées: elles font conna?tre tout le mérite d’un artiste, que jusqu’ici, on avait regardé seulement comme un habile graveur de poin?ons à l’usage des imprimeurs.
a l’égard de ces poin?ons, permettez moi, monsieur, de faire ici une réserve en faveur de l’alde l’ancien. cet imprimeur, à ce qu’il parait, les a achetés de francesco, il en a fait frapper les matrices nécessaires pour la fonte des caractères cursifs dont il a fait un si fréquent usage à partir de 1501. or, avant de se livrer aux dépenses considérables où cela devait l’entra?ner, il a d? naturellement se réserver la propriété exclusive des objects acquis par lui, alors s’il en agit ainsi, il a eu raison de se plaindre de ce que l’artiste eut livré des caractères semblables à géronimo soncino pour son pétrarque de 1503, 311et il était parfaitement dans son droit lorsqu’il sollicitait et obtenait du pape un privilège exclusif pour ses nouveaux caractères.
je connaissais déjà plusieurs des petites éditions données par francesco, en 1516, mais pas le cicéron, et j’ignorais que cet artiste n’eut exercé la typographie, que moins d’une année. j’aurais, j’en suis certain bien d’autres choses à apprendre de vous, monsieur, qui possédez de si grandes connaissances en ce genre, mais, à mon grand regret, éloigné de vous pour toujours, et occupé de terminer un travail que mon grand age m’avertit de limiter, je ne pourrai guère profiter des secours que vous m’avez si obligemment offerts lorsque j’ai eu le plaisir de vous voir.
agréez, &c., &c.,
brunet.”
the fac-similes which are placed at the end of the work were executed by john harris, l’incomparabile harris, as panizzi was in the habit of styling him. as a fac-similist he stood alone. so correct and so wonderful were his productions, that panizzi himself adopted the safe plan of writing, in pencil, on the margin of them, “this is by j. h.—a. p.” he eventually lost his sight, and died very poor. some of the leaves supplied by him are so perfectly done that, after a few years, he himself experienced some difficulty in distinguishing his own work from the original. on one occasion a question arose as to the completeness of a certain copy of a rare book in the museum library; it was brought to light and carefully examined by panizzi, mr. jones, and mr. watts. after a fruitless search, page by page, a consultation ended in a summons to harris himself to point out the leaves that he had supplied. it was only after a very close examination that the artist was able to detect his 312own handiwork. this circumstance induced panizzi to to initial all such fac-similes. the reader is recommended to examine a book in the national library,—a copy of magna charta, as a specimen of his skill.
mr. grenville employed harris largely. on one occasion he supplied a few missing leaves to a rare book, and after it was shown to connoisseurs, the venerable gentleman presented him with the book.
so much for panizzi’s literary abilities and his discernment and success in this sphere of his many and arduous labours, in which he exhibited the same powers of mind and application as in all the varied occupations of his busy life. enough has, however, been said to show how, amongst all his other multifarious and unceasing occupations, he found time to dedicate his mind to literature, and literature of a class to demand the greatest application and labour of the brain.
